NEWS ANALYSIS: Curbing the scourge of cancer via effective communication
NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.119/2017 (Aug. 9)
Curbing the scourge of cancer via effective communication
A News Analysis by Philip Yatai, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
“Three month after my 52nd birthday in 2013, I felt an unusual lump in my right breast while palpating them.
“Being an unusual experience, my heart jumped and my hand kept going back there throughout the night, wondering what it might be.
“Then, I went to see my doctor who referred me for a quick scan and the result indicated the presence of fibroidadenoma.
“I was terrified but the doctor assured me that there was nothing to worry about, advising that I should repeat the scan in six months time.
“However, the thought of a painless lump growing in my breast was giving me concern and after some time, I visited my doctor again and he said Phoebe, you worry too much.
“I waited three months and decided to see another doctor who could not hide his surprise that at my age, I had a lump in my breast.
“He recommended an analysis and the result showed that I had a breast cancer which devastated me,’’ Phoebe Yayai, a breast cancer survivor, recounted.
Yayi experience is one of the numerous experiences of cancer patients across the country but not every patient’s condition ends in the same way as Yayi’s case.
Unarguably, it is an endless agony, emotional and psychological struggles between life and death for the larger population of cancer patients in the country.
According to a report from International Agency for Research on Cancer, there are 14.1 million new cancer cases, 32.6 million people living with cancer and 8.2 million cancer deaths within five years of diagnosis worldwide.
It states that 57 per cent, representing eight million of new cancer cases, 65 per cent representing; 5.3 million of the cancer deaths and 48 per cent; representing 15.6 million of the five-year prevalent cancer cases, occurred in the less developed regions, Nigeria inclusive.
Similarly, the World Health Organisation notes that 100,000 Nigerians are diagnosed with cancer, while more than 80, 000 people die from the disease every year.
The organisation describes the country’s cancer death ratio of four in every five affected persons as one of the worst in the world.
Supporting the organisation’s claim, Mr Elijah Elijah, the National Coordinator of Civil Society for Cancer Eradication in Nigeria, admitted that Nigeria had the highest burden of cancer in Africa.
At a training organised by the organisation for Civil Society Organisations on cancer awareness creation in Kaduna State, he said breast, cervical and prostate cancer killed more than any other cancer in Nigeria.
According to him, 30 women die of breast cancer and 24 of cervical cancer daily, while 14 men also die of prostate cancer daily in the country, observing that awareness creation was crucial in addressing the scourge.
He explained that cancer could be caused mostly by what people eat, their life style and the environment they live.
“Habits such as smoking, alcohol intake, lack f exercise and exposure to carcinogenic products and elements could induce breast cancer.
“People need to know what kind of life style or habit that predisposes them to cancer and how to prevent it,’’ he added.
Similarly, Prof. Sunday Adewuyi of Radiotherapy and Oncology Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABU), Zaria, described cancer as a death sentence for patients in Nigeria.
At a recent sensitisation campaign against cancer and book presentation at the university, he expressed concern about non-availability of facilities and infrastructure for the treatment of cancer.
“Cancer is a death sentence because there is no available treatment or patients’ inability to access the treatment most times.
“Patients have continued to suffer agony and psychological torture by actions and inactions of government, health institutions, hospital leadership and medical staff,’’ he said.
According to him, only two out of seven machines for the treatment of cancer were presently working in the country with one in Zaria and another at the National Hospital, Abuja.
“The country needs no fewer than 600 of such machines to provide adequate services for cancer patients; if something urgent in this regard is not done, cancer will remain a death sentence in Nigeria,’’ he observed.
Adewuyi also identified other challenges to include low awareness, poverty, deficit infrastructure and manpower as well as high cost of healthcare, among others.
“We need infrastructure and manpower development, budgetary allocation and strong legislation, among others.
“Cancer is a challenge but not an end to life; we must fight this multi-faced enemy of mankind.
“The first step in driving progress around cancer is to push for actions that will improve survival rates and give cancer patients a better quality of life,’’ he said.
He said educating and informing individuals and communities about lifestyle and cancer risk were cardinal to preventing cancer.
“It is very important, therefore, to improve cancer awareness and screening, especially for the common cancers prevalent in our environment namely breast, cervical prostate, head and neck cancers,’’ Adewuyi said.
Prof. Ibrahim Garba, Vice-Chancellor, ABU, also described communication as crucial tool for winning the war against the scourge of cancer in the country.
“Nigerians need to know more about the different kinds of cancer that citizens battle with, they need to have relevant information to enable them to take appropriate action.
“As we all know, knowledge is power, if we are armed with requisite knowledge, we will effectively fight the scourge,’’ Garba said.
In the same vein, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, former Minister of Health, said “cancer treatment is very expensive, but prevention is cheaper, therefore, people need all the information necessary to prevent and manage it’’.
But stakeholders note that perhaps, one of the impediments to cancer screening is women’s distaste for the opposite sex fondling with their breasts.
In the light of this observation, Mrs Eugenia Abu of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), underscored the need for more women physicians and technicians in screening and management of cancer in the country.
She advised that more women should be encouraged to go into those fields of medicine to bridge the gap.
Abu, who was the reviewer of the book entitled “Peal of Hope’’, written by a post graduate student of the university, Mr Ekpeno John, also called for bridging of the communication gap on cancer awareness.
She commended John’s for the effort and urged for more of such initiative to take cancer messages to every households in the country.
John described the book as a concise cancer communication strategy aimed at informing and educating people and communities through entertainment related activities.
“I was inspired to write the book when I noticed the wide communication gap on cancer awareness, prevention and management and with good information, many lives would be saved,’’ he said.
Dr Paul Dogo, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health and Human Resources, therefore, advised Nigerians to inspire hope and encourage cancer patients to lessen their pains and enable them live happily.
Dogo observed that such empathy would not only lessen the pains but inspire hope in the patients.
Medical experts, however, believe that cancer is curable if it is discovered early, observing that a lot of cancer patients discover it late.
They, therefore, solicit massive awareness campaign on cancer screening, treatment and prevention, urging the public to show care, love and encouragement to cancer patients.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)